A Nightmare To Forget, A Kiss To Remember
by sunniebelle
Summary: After a very long day, some reminiscing and a nightmare, the Doctor and Rose share a proper first kiss.


The Doctor lay in the dark beside a sleeping Rose Tyler and felt truly at peace and content for the first time in years. Even if he was now part human and might need more sleep than he would in his fully Time Lord body, he wouldn't be able to sleep right now since his mind was racing so.

Today had truly been a day of miracles. Horrors as well, but the miracles had made the horrible return of one of his most hated arch nemesis' bearable.

And now he was lying here listening to the deep even breaths of Rose Tyler, the one person he thought he would never be able to see or speak to again. His precious Rose, his brave, beautiful, brilliant girl had fought her way back to him, had proven him wrong and done what he had known to be impossible.

His mind replayed the moment he saw her at the opposite end of that deserted street. As soon as he reached the part of the memory that led to the creation of this body, he stopped the memory. He wanted to remember the joy and happiness on Rose's face, not the fear and sorrow that had taken over.

The Doctor was quickly brought out of his memories by the sudden unevenness of Rose's breathing, a slight hitch and then a whimper of pain. He turned to see if she was waking up and realized that she was going into a nightmare. For a moment he listened to her quiet pleas for him not to leave and realized what she must be dreaming about.

It hurt his hearts—no, heart, to hear her in distress of any kind, but especially when he was the cause.

He reached over and shook her by the shoulder, calling her name and repeating it a little more forcefully when she didn't respond. Rose woke with a start and looked over at him in shock. He could see the glimmering tears on her cheeks, made visible by the moonlight filtering in through the window.

"Rose, I'm here. I'm right here," he whispered as he shifts closer to her.

She stared at him a moment and then, just as a sob broke in her throat, she flung her arms around his waist and held him close as she struggled to control her breathing. The Doctor didn't try to stop her tears yet, but simply ran his hand through her hair and offered as much comfort as he could with his presence.

A few minutes later her crying stopped and she spoke with hesitancy, but he could hear the pain in her voice.

"I thought... I thought you left again. In my dream, both of you, well, both versions of you I guess, decided I was better off without you. You both left me."

The Doctor was unsure of what to say to that and simply held her gaze when she lifted her head to look him in the eye. He was unprepared for her next question.

"Is this... Are you sure this is what you wanted? To be here? To be with me? I mean you're stuck on the slow path... with me... indefinitely." The insecurity in her voice made his single heart hurt like a knife had pierced it.

He knew there was only one answer that would convince her that he was certain that this _was_ _indeed_ the life he wanted, with her.

"Stuck with you, Rose Tyler," he said as his fingers pushed a stray hair behind her ear and then moved to caress her cheek with his knuckles, "that's not so bad."

For the first time since that dark deserted street, Rose gave him one of her blinding grins, the kind that started slow and grew to the point it put the sun to shame.

"Yeah?" she asked him, the hopeful anticipation in her voice made his heart race.

"Oh, yes," he said with absolute surety.

She placed one hand on his chest and her eyes tracked to where her palm rested directly over his heart. Their eyes met a moment later and they slowly, but simultaneously, leaned toward each other.

While their kiss on the beach was filled with passion and need, this kiss was soft and languid. They took their time, each caressing the other's face or arm, while they explored each other's mouths.

When they pulled back to breathe, the Doctor gently pulled her close and enjoyed the feeling of Rose burying her face into the soft cotton shirt covering his chest. He considered the fact that since the beach and that brief moment, this was their first true kiss of their new life.

He hoped that Rose looked forward to the many, many yet to come. He knew that he certainly did!


End file.
